The Hidden Path
by Darknez
Summary: Danny thinks he has all his friends and enemies figured out...that is, until he stumbles upon a weeping Ember. What will our young hero decide to do? How will this affect his life? And who is the mysterious figure who Danny keeps seeing in his dreams?
1. Chapter 1

Hi. My name is Daniel "Danny" Fenton. I am the youngest in my family which consists of me father Jack Fenton, my mother Maddie Fenton and my older sister Jasmine "Jazz" Fenton. We would have been a typical American family. You know the ones with embarrassing parents and overbearing older siblings…were it not for one fact. The thing that sets us apart from other families all over America is the fact that my parents hunt ghosts.

Yup. You heard me. I come from a family of ghost hunters. My parents are also quite accomplished scientists. They create these devices with which they either use to study ghosts or, and quote," _dissect them, molecule by molecule._" You must be wondering, _why aren't they both in the mental hospital,_ right? Well, it's quite simple. It's because…we live in the most haunted place in the world.

Amity Park. Where ghosts haunt on a regular basis. You know, _I'm_ surprised people haven't got used to the idea of ghosts haunting their town. Well, maybe they could have, had it not been for the fact that most of the ghosts that visit the town plan on either destroying it or ruling it.

I am partially to blame for that. You see, a year ago, my parents built this device which they said would open a portal between our world and the ghost world. So naturally, Jazz and I had to attend, but sadly (for them), it didn't work. So, a few days later I brought my friends Tucker Foley and Samantha "Sam" Manson to see it (oh and a little note. If you ever call Sam _Samantha_, Prepare for a world of hurt. Trust me…you do not want to go there). Tucker is an African-American who is in love with technology (but that does not stop him from flirting with almost any female he sees). Sam is a gothic, animal loving Ultra-Recyclo Vegetarian (basically, she likes dark colors and depressing thoughts; she hates animal abusers and she doesn't eat anything with a face on it). She is also quite rich and has these two bright and peppy parents. Can you imagine a Goth having to live with people like them? But wait! Later on you will come across more absurd situations.

Anyways, as I was telling you, I brought Tucker and Sam to my house because they were curious about the "ghost portal". I was quite nervous as my parents didn't like people coming down to their lab without their permission or supervision. I should probably give you a layout of my house. It was a three storey house wit a basement, but then my parents came and they added an "ops center" to the roof. They also converted the basement to their lab and some rooms throughout the house to either training rooms or storage rooms.

Sam then dared me to go inside the portal. So being the idiot I am, I agreed to go in and started wearing the standard hazmat suit. This was just a white shirt and pants with black gloves and boots. Lucky for me, Sam had taken an imprint of my father's face off the suit or else I would have been made a laughing stock. Later on, due to wish she made (it will all make sense later. Just wait a little bit), she got a chance to put, what would later be considered my symbol, an insignia instead of the face. It was a large black "D" with a smaller "P" in it.

So, as I was saying, she dared me to go in and I went. It was quite dark in there which caused me a few stumbles as wires were littered all over the floor. Tucker called out to me to see if I was ok as he heard a few of my stumbles. I tried to answer him but at that exact moment, I had another fall and I pressed onto a button. The last thought in my head before a wave of green light came and hit me was, 'oh shit!', because in that split second I saw the button which I had accidently pushed. It was an _ON_ _button_. When the wave finally hit me, I was pretty sure I was dead because no one could feel pain that intense and still live to tell the tale. Fortunately for me, I didn't have to bear the pain for long as I soon blacked out.

When I came to, I was on the floor of the lab with Sam and Tucker leaning over me. For a second I thought I had imagined it all. That is, until I saw the swirling green, swirling…substance in the portal. It was now fully functional and working fine. I slowly got up and made my way towards the portal. On my way there, I saw a glimpse of myself on a wall mirror…_but the person I saw was not me!_ I rushed to the mirror to get a better look. The person that stared back at me had pale skin, glowing green eyes, snow white hair and a shimmering aura around him. At first I was shocked but when later inspecting myself again, I realized that besides the changes, it was still my face staring back at me. I was even wearing the hazmat suit, even though the colors were inverted.

Suddenly I heard my parents coming down the stairs. Then it hit me…I was a ghost in my ghost-hunting parents' lab. Now I was beyond worried, I was terrified. I didn't know what to do. Luckily for me, Sam and Tucker were there. They were still shocked about my transformation but they also realized the trouble I was in. we were frantically looking at each other, searching for a way out when I felt this strange tingling sensation all over my body. The next second my parents came down the last step and I closed my eyes, awaiting my faith…but it never came. I slowly opened my eyes and saw them look at the portal in shocked silence. I looked at Sam and Tucker and they were pointing at me. I looked at my hands and realized that they were back to their original color. I had changed to human form. I then realized that I was not a full ghost but a half ghost-half human hybrid. It's been a year and a half since that episode but my parents haven't yet figured out about my powers, though Jazz has found out. Talk about irony. A half-ghost living in the same house as two ghost hunters yet they have no idea.

After gaining my powers, I sort of took it upon myself to protect the town from the ghosts who enter, or should I say exit, through our family portal. Over time, I slowly gained control over my old powers, and also managed to acquire some new ones as well. But as a fellow superhero was once told: _with great power comes great responsibility_, so I had taken it upon myself to keep not only Amity Park but also the whole world safe as greater threats rose from the depths of the ghost zone.

Lucky for me, I was not alone. Sam and Tucker continuously supported and assisted me in keeping the ghosts in check, and later on Jazz joined ours ranks, which helped immensely. It was becoming quite troublesome making some kind of excuse to my parents about my bruises, mysterious outings and low grades. Jazz really helped the situation at home. No one on earth knows about my condition except Sam, Tucker, Jazz, Valerie, the entire ghost zone and the others. Now you must be wondering, 'What others?' Good question. You see, I am not the only half-ghost out there. Yeah, you heard me; there are other half-ghosts out there. To be more specific, there are only two others that I know of: Vladimir "Vlad" Masters and Danielle "Dani" Fenton.

Vlad was in college with my mom and dad. They were working on a small version of the ghost portal when my dad mistakenly put soda in instead of ecto-filter. This caused a small explosion which caught him full in the face, giving him a dangerous condition called ecto-acne. This had also given him his ghost powers. Years later when he had recovered from the ecto-acne, he began plotting his revenge. Back then he wasn't a big believer in ghosts but after acquiring some ghost powers of his own, he quickly changed his mind. He began possessing billionaires from all over the world and had them, invest millions in his business so that he quickly became a multi-billionaire himself. He had developed a ghost lab of his own and started researching on how to make him more powerful. Oh, and did I mention he has this insane crush on my mom, deep hatred for my dad, and wants me to become his son/apprentice so that one day I would take over his empire. I know; what a crazy, mixed-up fruitloop. And do you want to know something else? He created Dani!

Dani is female clone Vlad made of me. There were other clones created as well. He was trying to create a "perfect son". I said it before but I'm going to say it again; what a crazy mixed-up friutloop. The other clones that were created had no will, no mind of their own, but Dani was different. She had a will and a mind of her own. When she finally understood Vlad was just using her, she helped me kick some serious friutloop butt. Afterwards, she dramatically flew off to the horizon. It wasn't until some time later when I heard from her again. All the clones that Vlad had created were very unstable; they would dissolve into amass of goo if they used too much of their powers, and Dani wasn't any different. It was lucky for her that my dad is such a bad ghost hunter. Using some of my dad's Ecto- Dejecto (a serum that makes a ghost more powerful) and Valerie's help, we managed to stabilize Dani. She once again dramatically flew off towards the sunset. Now I get postcards from different parts of the world. Try explaining that to your parents.

Now as to who Valerie is; she was once a member of the popular crowd, but due to a ghost-dog –gone-wild-and-wreaking-havoc incident, her father lost his job and she was kicked out of the popular crowd. Her full name is Valerie Gray and she is an African American girl with long, curly black hair and dark green eyes. She also is a ninth degree black belt in karate. A few months back, Technus (a technology crazed ghost who wants to take over the world) decided to play match-maker. He nearly succeeded in bringing us together; heck, I was even ready to propose but she turned me down. She broke up with me because she was afraid _the ghost boy_ would use me to get to her. I know. My life really is chock-filled with ironical situations, isn't it?

Wait! I completely forgot to mention how she helped me save Dani. So, as I said, because of a ghost dog (I call him Cujo) and also because of me (Danny Phantom), she lost everything. She had to move from her house to an apartment, had to get a job at Nasty Burger to help her father with the expenses and became an outcast in school. So you can understand her hatred towards ghosts, especially towards_ the ghost boy_ or _inviso-bill_ as I was known back then.

Then the crazy old fruitloop had to just come and interfere. He gave a pink, fully-equipped ghost-hunting suit to help her hunt ghosts. She was extremely bad at the beginning of her career but later on…oh man! Did she get better! She was almost as good as my mother. Do you remember a while back, I said that Tchnus tried to play match-maker? Well, it was during that incident when she gained a new, upgraded suit. Technus decided to give her a helping hand by giving her a new suit after he forced me to destroy the old one. The new suit she has is a red and black suit that is sort of integrated into her body because she can summon it whenever she wants. Now she has experience hunting ghosts, which pales considerably in front of her hatred of all ectoplasmic kind (excluding Dani, whom I suspect is sending her postcards as well), and a new, fully equipped ghost-hunting suit which is equipped with some of the most advanced ghost hunting technology I have ever seen. But that is not the worst part. The worst part is…the suit can be upgraded. It can integrate any new weapon it comes across. CURSE YOU TECHNUS!

Up till now I have kept talking of my human life. I haven't touched the ghost side of my life yet, except for one or two encounters. Now I guess begins my narration of the ghost side of my life. So hang onto your seats ladies and gentlemen…the story had yet to begin. Up next…_The Life of Danny Phantom_.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hey. This is my first fanfic so I'm glad to see such favorable responses from you all. A little note: **_**The Life of Danny Fenton**_** and **_**the Life of Danny Phantom**_** are a prologue of sorts. I also managed to notice that I put no disclaimer in the last chapter. My bad. Won't happen again. I also apologize for the very late update. **__**I'll**__** try to update my chapter every month or so and this time I mean it. The last year was a little hectic but I promise to be more punctual with my updates. So enough of this note and on with the story. **_

_**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Danny Phantom.**_

Hi, again. Nice to see that you are still here. So, previously I was talking about the humans and halfas (this is the name given to half human-half ghost hybrids by the ghosts in the ghost zone. Weird name, right?) I interact with, well…at least the important ones. No use mentioning Dash Baxter or Paulina, as they don't play much importance in my life except for one to two moments. There are a few others, like Star who still hangs around Valerie even though she isn't popular anymore. Anyways, since I am also half-ghost, it should only be fair that both sides of my life should be mentioned evenly. Unfortunately, my ghost half pretty much dominates my life so be prepared for a long speech.

I guess I should begin with Technus as I have mentioned him before. Nicolai Technus, as I said before, is a ghost who has power over technology. He has green skin (which almost all ghosts in the ghost zone have) and white hair. He also likes to wear shades. He was one of the earliest ghosts I had encountered (and I...kind of…set him on the path of world domination. Previously he used to posses various simple machines, such as computers and washing machines, and then he made a huge mechanical body for himself, but since his upgrade to Technus 2.0, he now can control advanced pieces of technology (not to mention his fashion sense has vastly improved. Before he was trying to pull off the "mad scientist" look but now he looks sort of like a tech-based villain). The machines he used to take over in the past couldn't do that much damage by themselves but now, even the simplest pieces of technology he controls, can do massive damage. He's one of my toughest enemies to date and yet, recently there has been a change in his behavior. The last fight I had with him, when I later thought about it, was too easy. There were many instances where I had my guard down and yet he didn't do anything. It was as if he wasn't even trying.

Anyway, another ghost worth mentioning is Skulker. Skulker is a ghost hunter. You must be wondering what he hunts, right? He hunts any being that is considered unique. Apparently, a half-ghost is considered unique so he constantly hunts me, which I now suspect is more out of the thrill of the hunt than actually capturing a half-ghost. This I realized when Jazz pointed out that Skulker works for Vlad, but doesn't hunt him, during one of her ghost analyzing lessons. Now, if you're wondering why jazz and I were discussing his in the first place, it's quite simple. Jazz had managed to convince me to try to profile the ghosts I regularly come in contact with so I have managed to create a profile for them all but since I am no psychologist, I am pretty sure they are not that accurate but with Jazz's help, I have managed to improve it.

So, as I was saying, Skulker likes to hunt unique things, but there is a fact that I am pretty sure none of you would believe. Skulker is about six inches tall. Now, before you all just get up and leave, give me a chance to explain. The actual Skulker may be six inches tall but he has a six foot battle suit which is equipped with just about whatever you would need to hunt, skin or destroy any target.

Skulker and Technus by themselves are quite troublesome but together they are a pain in the butt. You want to know something I learnt about their future? Technus partners up with and Skulker and possesses his suit so that Technus now doubles the power to his suit as well as repair any damage done to it. This form of theirs is called Skultech 9.9. Now you must be wondering how I know all this. Well, it's quite simple actually. You see, I met Skultech. And now you must be wondering how I could meet their future selves or self or whatever they are. Well, that is a little more complicated. The "duo" was sent back from 10 years in the future so that they could assassinate me to prevent me from destroying the both the human world and the ghost zone because I cheated in an exam. You probably will take a little time to digest that bit of information (or at least understand it), and thinking that I'm making this up. Well, I'm not.

To make a long story short, Mr. Lancer found out about me cheating in my C.A.T.'s and contacted my family. They met at the Nasty Burger with Sam and Tucker as witnesses but due to an earlier fight I had with a ghost there, a boiler overheated and exploded, taking out my family and friends, oh and Mr. Lancer too, in its blast. I end up living with Vlad, who rips apart my two halves, that is my ghost half and my human half, to prevent me from living with the pain and the burden, or so he told me. Unfortunately for him, my ghost half ended up ripping apart his ghost half as well and ended up merging with Vlad Plasmius (that's Vlad's ghost name, as mine is Danny Phantom). The resulting entity never officially gave himself a name so I named him Dan Phantom, the future of Danny Phantom.

He has this pale blue skin and fire for hair (something like Ember's hair. I'll tell you about her later). He kept my original outfit but also wore a white cape. He had developed fangs and his irises were red (sort of like almost all ghosts in the ghost zone). He then started to conquer the ghost zone, after which he turned to the human world. Due to certain circumstances, I, Sam and Tucker entered the human world 10 years from ours. My future self then sought me out and left me in the future while he went back to the past to make sure I turn out like him. Because of that, I had to seek out help from Vlad in the future to return home. He told me all of this (which I had later verified to make sure he wasn't lying like usual).

Back in the present, Dan was making sure that the future that he wanted came to be. Unfortunately for him, Jazz soon discovered his real identity and was trying to stop him but with no success. By the time I had returned to the present, Dan had chained all of them, dad, and mom, Jazz, Tucker and Sam to the boiler that was going to explode. Wait. I forgot someone. Who was it…oh yeah. Mr. Lancer was chained too. The battle I fought with him was tough and I wouldn't have won, had it not been for one thing. My Ghostly Wail.

It is one of my strongest powers to date but if I use it in my current form, it drains me of my energy and I change back to a human. Dan, on the other hand, was strong enough to use it without affecting him whatsoever, well at least from I had seen. He was shocked that I could use that power at that age. It was the main reason why I had survived that fight. He was caught off-guard with that attack so I could imprison him in a Fenton Thermos. Unfortunately, I didn't have enough energy to transform back and I couldn't reach them in time. I lay there, on the cold, hard ground, thinking that I had failed; that I had lost everything close to me: my friends, my family and even Mr. Lancer (not him personally but his death as a human) and I would have lost them, had it not been for the ghost of time. Had it not been for Clockwork (wait, that explanation wasn't short, was it? My bad).

Yeah. A ghost is responsible to look after the time stream. Strange, isn't it? What's more strange is his appearance. He doesn't stay in one form for too long and whenever I try to ask why he's like that, he always dismisses the topic before I can bring it up. That's one downfall for arguing with the ghost of time; he already knows what you are going to say, before you say it. Anyways, back to his appearance. He has three forms, one of a child, another of a man in his prime and the third of a wizened, old man. He keeps reverting to one of his three forms randomly. One second you will see a young boy, and the next, an old man. This really was, and still is, distracting, especially when you are talking to him. He will keep on talking but his form will change but there will be no break in his sentence when he does so.

There is one thing that is common in all his three form, and that is a scar crossing his left eye. It begins from somewhere near the top of his temple and ends by his mouth. Oh, I forgot to tell you about his outfit. He wears this purple cloak with a hood and a cape. On his chest, though, is a rectangular door that shows some clocks inside (it's because of this that I suspect that he is a robot. Impossible sounding, I know but look at the evidence will ya?). Even though he has been entrusted with the responsibility if looking after the time stream (which I doubt anyone else could do without either turning evil or going insane), he is still this down-to-earth guy (ghost?) and he even managed to maintain a sense of humor.

So, as I said, clockwork had helped me save my family but in doing so he disrupted the time stream. In simple terms, it means that now, Dan and I exist out of time. Clockwork is now keeping the thermos, which has Dan trapped in his lair, and as for me, I have become the clockwork's apprentice. Yeah, I'm the apprentice to the ghost of time. No one knows this though. The Observants (they are the ghosts responsible for looking after the ghost zone. They also wear purple cloaks but they have a single, huge eyeball for a head. Now, before you ask, I have questioned clockwork on how they manage to speak and he just said 'leave matters which are of no use to you alone for you will gain nothing out of it but pain and misery'. Do I even need to say something about that? Anyways, they deal with any ghost who wishes to harm the ghost zone in any way, whether it be intentional or not) have forbidden me to say anything about this to anyone without their approval, and of course they turned down my appeal to tell Sam and Tuck. So now, I have to sneak from home, twice per week, to go to Clockwork's tower to train.

You must be wondering what kind of training he makes me do. The truth is that he actually doesn't formally train me. He just leaves me in this room. It is sort of an ever-changing obstacle course that not only pushes my powers to their extreme but on occasions actually manages to bring out new powers as well (and by obstacle course, I mean that every time I enter that room, some kind of challenge awaits me. Like the first time I entered the room, it was an actual obstacle course testing my flying abilities, so you can imagine my surprise when the next time I enter, I expect the same obstacle course and I get a min I swamp. With actual **ghost** crocodiles. Ghost crocodiles are ten times tougher and fifty times meaner than a live one. Oh and there is this voice which gives me this challenge that I have to finish or else I am not exiting the room). I have managed to learn the ability to create both windows and portals into and out of the ghost zone, bending my shield into different forms and a kind of hypnosis that I do with my ghost eyes. Due to all that training, my powers, both old and new, are so high that I hardly break a sweat whenever I fight with Skulker, but to keep appearances that I was the same old, weak me, I usually end up letting him get a few good shots in or else everyone would know something was up.

I don't always train alone. On occasions, Frostbite comes and helps me with my ice powers. He is such a great teacher; no matter how many times I mistakenly put him on ice (literally), he always smiles and corrects my mistakes (that is, once he defrosts). My control over my ice powers may not be as strong as my control over my other powers, but it is improving with his help. One such improvement is that now I am able to create ice armor for myself. It greatly increases my resistance to most blows and since it is created by ghost ice, it is also resistant to most of my parents' inventions (at least those that shoot stuff at me). Wait, you don't know how he looks, right? Well, how could you? I haven't actually told you how he looks, so how could you? He is this big, furry creature with ice horns and an entire arm made of ice. You can even see the bones in his ice arm. Try to imagine a yeti with an ice arm and ice horns and you have Frostbite.

Frostbite is the leader of his people, The Far Frozen, who all look like him, minus the ice arm, and is also the guardian of the infi-map. The infi-map is a map of the entire ghost zone, but it is no ordinary map; you could use the map to go to any place in the ghost zone, or anywhere that is connected to the ghost zone in any way. However, if it feels that you are abusing or 'unworthy' of it powers, then it will lead you to a place it decides. Anyway, frostbite and his people are a bunch of friendly ghosts living their lives in a frozen landscape. I believe it is the only place in the ghost zone where you can find snow. Well, other than Klemper's lair. The far frozen is the perfect place for his people…which may be the reason why he decided to move there in the first place. You see, he and his people are cryokinetics, meaning that they have ice powers. It was frostbite who helped me master my own powers when I was ready. If it weren't for him, the entire planet would have been covered by plants, and the human race would have been controlled by undergrowth, a ghost plant that can regenerate himself. Without my ice power, he was virtually unstoppable.

Frostbite and Clockwork also instructed (forced) me to start meditating, saying "it will enhance my mental prowess and also help me deal with any personal demons that haunt me and by doing so, I would be able to achieve inner peace and tranquility". I didn't understand most of what they said but after actually trying it out, I can honestly say that it really works. I have never been so relaxed in my life after one of my meditating session, especially after one in the special tranquility cave in the far frozen.

Now I must know what you must be thinking. Me and meditating? Doesn't go together, right? Actually, if you would have told me, before the whole Dan incident, that I would willingly be meditating to relieve my mind of stress, I would have laughed in your face and if you tried to tell anyone else that, especially my friends, they would have thrown you in the loony palace as no one, and I mean NO ONE, would have believed you that Danny Fenton, the loser and freak, was actually meditating.

Aside from providing me with mental relief, meditating actually gives my powers a little boost that only lasts a few hours at most. When I asked frostbite about it, he only smiled and said that "the mind is a complex and intricate thing. Sometimes, within its depths, people store some of their more…darker, more…painful secrets that they do not wish others to find out about and in time, they end up completely forgetting about it themselves. However, whenever a person does this, he or she loses a part of themselves; this often ends up in the individual becoming a shadow of what they might have otherwise become. Only when both parts of the individual merge can he or she become what they were fated to become. Remember that young chosen one; only when both parts merge can an individual achieve his or her greatest triumph". All of that for one simple question about why I gained a slight boost in my power whenever I meditate.

There is another effect of all the meditating I've been doing. Once I started meditating, I started seeing a shadowy figure in my dreams. The more I meditate, the longer I see him (the figure doesn't have a definite form but I somehow know that the figure is of a male). The more I see the figure, the more I feel like I know him from somewhere. I know it's weird considering that I don't even know what the figure looks like, yet I claim that I know him from somewhere. But my life is nothing but weird. I am the son of two ghost hunters who possesses ghost powers. How much weirder can you get?

Going back to the 'ghostly' figure, I tried to question Clockwork about the figure but the response I keep getting from him is "all in due time, my young apprentice". What could the figure mean? How does the figure have any connection to me? And when will I be ready to know the truth about all this? All these questions are always eating away at me but none as great as the question, _just how much will all this affect my life this time?_

**Love it? Hate it? Review and let the world know. And once again I apologize for the very late update**. **Last year wasn't a good year for me but the troubles are gone and you can expect regular bi-monthly updates. So, I bid you all, adieu. **


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey. The third chapter is up. Surprising, I know but I had already laid the foundation for this and many other chapters and fanfics. I just never got around to finishing them. Now that I have time, expect quicker updates but that too will soon change and I will be forced into the bi-monthly update schedule. After this comes the real showstopper, the first chapter containing the actual story and not a prologue. So enough of this and onwards we go. **

**Disclaimer: I do not, nor have I ever, owned Danny Phantom. **

**Recap: **

_Going back to the 'ghostly' figure, I tried to question Clockwork about the figure but the response I keep getting from him is "all in due time, my young apprentice". What could the figure mean? How does the figure have any connection to me? And when will I be ready to know the truth about all this? All these questions are always eating away at me but none as great as the question, just how much will all this affect my life this time? _

You must be wondering what I meant by that. Well, it's quite simple. Whenever something like this occurs (and by 'something like this' I mean something unexplained), my life takes a sharp turn down misfortune lane. There was that time when I started to feel really cold for no reason what-so-ever (which was my ice power acting up), the entire planet got enslaved by Undergrowth, and there was this one time when I was attacked by Box Lunch, the child of the Box Ghost and the Lunch Lady (you do not want to know, trust me) and I ended up becoming Dan (of course that was from another time line) but do you see what I mean? Every time something unexplained happens, my life takes a turn for the worst.

Oh, and I completely forgot to tell you the lamest side-effect that meditating has brought upon me. I now have something like a…bond between the Box Ghost and Klemper, the two biggest losers of the ghost zone. Why, oh why did I have to form a bond with those two? Why couldn't I form a bond with Ember or Desiree, the two hottest ghosts in the ghost zone? But nooo! I have to form a bond with a ghost who wears an over-all, cries "Beware!" and throws boxes around, and with a ghost that wears PJ's and asks everyone he meets (both human and ghost), in a nasally voice, "Will you be my friend?" I mean, stalker much (though there is the fact that he has cryokinesis, which I might add is an awesome power)? However, the box ghost does improve with time. I met his future self when I was sent (sort of) into the future and let me tell you, he gets bad and I don't mean bad as in not good; I mean bad as in evil. He learns to make ectoplasmic boxes, which really hurt and his also voice gets really deep, giving him a menacing aura whenever he talks.

No, we will be leaving the losers of the ghost zone and move onto some of the rockers, the biggest being Ember McLain. She is a ghost punk rocker, who currently has a huge fan base here in the human world as very few people know she is a ghost. My first encounter with her incidentally caused quite a stir as everyone thought us fighting using our ghost powers were just advertising for her concert and it didn't help that when I fought her at her concert, everyone was convinced that it really was special effects for her concert. Because of that, not only did it increase her fandom but I sort of became a fan myself. Hey, just because she may try to take over the world and beats me up whenever we meet, doesn't mean that I should hate her music. If she were to stop trying to take over the world forcibly using her powers and just focus on her music career, then she would have the entire world eating out of the palm of her hand. Her music is that good. But that doesn't mean that I'm gonna tell her that.

One reason why I'm not going to tell her is that I'm still kinda miffed that she forced me to fall in love with Sam but first let me explain to you how her powers work. She uses her guitar to fight most of the times. The guitar has a little knob on it that control whatever effect she wants to produce. By turning her knob and strumming her guitar, she can hypnotize people, end out purple ectoplasmic fists, among other things. Then there is her hair. You see, instead of a head of hair, she has a head of fire (kinda suits her personality. She is fiercely independent and has a very 'fiery' temper). She ties her hair in a ponytail at the top of her head. The unique thing about her hair is that it shows just how much power she has. The more power she has, the bigger her hair (flame?) becomes and, like all performers, she gets her power from people chanting her name. The more people that chant her name, the bigger the flame become. Then there is her appearance. Ember wears a black, single shoulder tank top with black jeans and a belt hung loosely around her waist. Completing the look is a single glove that goes almost up to her right shoulders, and skull designed platform shoes.

Anyway, back to her forcing me to fall in love with Sam. It was then when I realized that I had feeling for her but when she kissed Dash, I buried it deep down and forgot about it. The feelings tried to surface later on but, I never acted upon them. When I started meditating though, I began to review my life and the people in it. That's when I realized why I had those feelings. I hardly ever have anyone stick up for me and when a girl does it, I kinda take it to heart (which would explain why I fell for Valerie like that). So I confronted Sam about them and we had a good, long and very embarrassing talk with her about them and we realized that it was just a puppy love. She also had few people to accept her for herself and I was probably the first male to accept her.

While we're on the topic of finding the truth about someone, let me discuss what I accidently found out about Ember. But before that, let me discuss about my (Jazz's) new project. She had managed to convince me to profile my ghostly opponents, as I seem to have told you before. It seems that I am developing a habit of repeating what I say. Anyway according to her, by doing this we would be able to better understand them and maybe help them 'move on' to the plane where spirits are supposed to go. I don't even think such a place exists, but Jazz wouldn't forget about the idea and she wouldn't let me forget about it until I agreed. So I have most of my opponents' profiles done, except for a select few. Ember's is one of them. We had already created her profile but after that one incident, I had to review the data I had on her and then I realized that it was sort of biased. All of them were from conversations (trading banters) we had from previous fights, but what about her life when she's in the ghost zone? What does she do? Who does she hang out with? We had no information on her about all that so our old profile of her was deemed incomplete and I got rid of it.

Now you must be wondering what incident I'm talking about. You see one day, while returning home from one of Clockwork's training sessions, I heard sobbing coming from behind some ruins in the ghost zone (note that pieces of land float in the ghost zone). So I naturally had to investigate. What I saw completely shocked me; there, clutching her guitar to her chest, was a tear-stricken Ember McLain. In all the time I knew her, I never saw her cry. She normally makes other people burst out in tears but there in front of me she sat crying. She hadn't spotted me so I quietly made my way back (if I went there and tried to comfort her, she would either fight me (most probably) or if she would accept my help, she would end up asking what I was doing there in the first place since it was a pretty secluded spot. Either situation was one I did not want to find myself in so I left (even though I wanted to help her). That certainly was an eye opener.

Because of that one incident, it had led me to review my other profiles and another one which I found that seemed biased was one on a certain wishing ghost. The profile that we made on Desiree was also made from data that we collected from our previous fights and it lacked information on what she did when she was in the ghost zone. It was then when I started to use my meditation sessions to try and remember as much detail as I could that was connected to Desiree. The first thing that I remembered was my first encounter with her. It happened at the carnival that had rolled into town. This also happened right near the beginning of my ghost fighting career, so I didn't have much control over my powers yet. Anyway, there was this little girl who wanted some cotton candy but her mother didn't want to buy one, so the little girl made a wish (sort of) for some cotton candy. Normally this wouldn't matter much but as fate would have it, she knocked down a bottle that contained Desiree. Once Desiree was freed, she had granted the little girl's wish by, literally, flooding the entire carnival with cotton candy. She had also asked me what my deepest desires were but due to my uncontrolled powers, I accidently shot her with one of my ectorays. Coincidently, that was the first time I actually fired one so it came to a surprise to me as well.

When I reflected on that moment, I came to a realization. When Desiree granted that little girl's wish, she had this angry look on her face, like she was distributing retribution to the people who had caused her pain. An evil look I would have understood, even one of joy, but not anger. Why was she angry? Then there was _that_ incident that I uncovered while on my memory trip but before I tell about _that_, let me tell you a fact about Desiree. She doesn't like, no, she doesn't want any man to touch her. At all. I remember the last time I accidently touched her; she had knocked me from one end of the town to the other, and don't get me started on the stories I hear in the ghost zone about male ghosts who end up touching her. There was this one story about this one ghost who grabbed her wrist and refused to let go. As the story goes, that ghost was never heard from again. Believe me; you do not want a furious Desiree on your tail because you **will** end up regretting it. She is one ghost whose bad side you do not want to end up upon. A furious Desiree is equal to ten stampeding rhinos with ghost powers, or better yet, ten stampeding ghost rhinos.

Do you want to know what the worst thing is though? The worst thing is that Desiree is probably the most beautiful, awe inspiring ghost you will ever see. She has this long black hair that would reach all the way to her toes, if she had toes. You see, Desiree always has a ghost tail instead of legs. I don't think I have ever seen her with actual legs before. She has a green complexion and was taller than me, before I had my growth spurt. She wears a traditional blue harem outfit, complementary with silver bangles and silver arm bracelets, and she also wears a silver head band. Desiree also has this certain air to herself, telling anyone who sees her that this was a person who was proud of who she was and no one could change that.

I really am going off track with most of these rants, aren't I? Anyway, going back to _that _incident. You see, after she had flooded the carnival with cotton candy, I flew up to where she was and she introduced herself and asked me if I had a wish, and how do I respond to that? I insult her. Now here comes the unbelievable part; she reached out and tried to touch me. Now that may not seem significant but remember, we're talking about a ghost who despises any male contact and here she is initiating contact with me, a male. Does this mean that I had permission to touch her back then? Or is it because of me that she made up that rule? You know, because I shot her right after that? Then there's the fact that she wasn't originally evil.

You see, to find out more about Desiree back then, as that was the first time we saw her, we went to talk to the gypsy who was the previous owner of the bottle in which Desiree was trapped (and right there another question arises. How was an ordinary bottle able to contain a ghost?). She told us this story about Desiree's past; her life when she was alive and why she started to grant double-edged wishes. I mean, if you were viewed as a threat by women and chased after by men just because of your looks when you were alive, and then when you are dead, people would use your powers to further their own happiness, when you yourself were unhappy, wouldn't you consider turning evil yourself? And I'm pretty sure that not many ghosts hang out with her even now. Kitty surely wouldn't because Johnny would definitely hit on her and I don't think that Ember would like to hang out with her. After hearing all this, I don't think Desiree is evil at all. In fact, if there were someone on her side of the court, she wouldn't be like she is now.

Seeing as we're on the topic of female ghosts, I have to mention this one ghost. Biologically, she would be 12 or somewhere close to that age, but chronologically she would be around 7 to 8 months old. Confused? Well, what would you say if I told you that she was related to me and would be considered, to an extent, my clone? You must know by now whom I'm talking about. I've already introduced her before. If you don't know whom I'm talking about, then you are a really bad listener. For those who still don't know whom I'm talking about, then you should **really** stop listening.

It's my 'cousin' Danni. You know…the clone. I introduced her when I was talking about the humans in my life but I didn't give her the importance that she deserves. You see, a lot has happened after we met last; I matured some and understood that the feelings I had felt towards her were not that of a cousin, but of something more…intimate. Not as intimate as lovers. Noooo way! First off, she's my clone. It would be like falling in love with me and I do not love myself like that. Second off…the feelings I had were something close to the way I feel about Jazz but more…intense. She feels more like family; nothing like a clone or even a cousin. She feels more like my…daughter. Crazy right? But there' no denying what I feel for her surpasses the way I feel towards Jazz, even towards my parents. I haven't told anyone about this; about the way I really feel about her. Not even to Valerie.

Oh yeah. We are closer now because of Danni and the fact that she knows that Vlad is a half-ghost. Surprise, surprise. No I really mean it. I was so shocked when she mentioned that that I actually fell out of the air and if weren't for my intangibility powers, I would hit the ground and been squashed and I would actually be haunting Amity Park. As it turns out, Valerie found out about Vlad being a half-ghost the time she helped me rescue Danni from him and from the time I asked for her number, we grew closer (Danny Phantom and her that is, and when I mean closer, I mean more friendlier and if you are wondering about 'asking for her number' then don't. It is a long story and I don't feel like telling it now).

You know, this is not how I usually act. In my 'normal' life, I'm supposed to be this klutzy, oblivious guy who has no idea that his best female friend is in love with him (of course I have sorted that little problem out). If anyone who knew me were to listen to me now, they would be completely shocked. I don't do deep, mature observations and I certainly don't meditate…but sometimes we have to change, for the greater good. I found out that if I weren't Clockwork' apprentice, and continued to live my life as I used to, then something bad were to happen. I couldn't find out exactly what would happen but I could feel that it would be very bad. I asked Clockwork about that future but he wouldn't look me in the eyes. I then knew that whatever that future held, I was the worst possible outcome for me yet. I already encountered Dan, an alternate future of myself and he was one future that I didn't want to happen. I just can't imagine what could be worse than him.

You know, I thought my life was complicated before but it doesn't compare to my life right now. I have two, maybe three, enemies that may not be 'evil', one clone that I may consider to be more of a daughter, a friend who may have stopped hating me and may have started to like my ghost half, and a figure that won't stop haunting my dreams. If those weren't enough, then there's this prophecy about a ghost prince coming to age to take over his father's throne, the throne of all ghosts and as the prophecy goes, the prince would be the most powerful ghost in existence. It says something about him being the gateway to a new era for all ghosts. Now, not only do I have to live my life, which itself is troubling enough, but now I have to look out for the 'most powerful ghost in existence' and see that he isn't evil as his old man. Could my life get any more messed up?

**Darknez: The final chapter for the prologues is done. From now on the actual story can take place.**

**Danny: Finally. They have been waiting for so long for this. You know, you need to learn to update more often. **

**Darknez: Hey! You are not supposed to be here. How on earth…?**

**Danny: Oh please. I am half-ghost. I can come and go as I please. **

**Darknez: Whatever. Just don't interfere with me and we'll be fine. **

**Danny: Yeah, whatever. Anyway, so dear readers, I will keep coming up and I'll bring some of my friends along and try to keep this lazy oaf from procrastinating too much. And we also apologize if we made you all wait a little longer than required for the updates.**

**Darknez: Hey! I am not an oaf!**

**Danny: So until we meet again. Oh and remember to review. Your reviews are what give the authors the drive to write more. And in turn, I'll make sure that this story gets continuous, regular updates. So long.**


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